Witold Woyda

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Witold Woyda, Polish fencer (born May 10, 1939, Poznan, Pol.—died May 5, 2008, Bronxville, N.Y.), competed for Poland in fencing’sfoil division in four consecutive Olympic Games (1960–72); he shared the team silver in 1964, team bronze in 1968, and team gold in 1972 and captured an individual gold in 1972, which made him Poland’s first athlete to win double gold in the same Olympics. Despite standing only 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in) tall, Woyda had an agility, an aggressive style, and exceptionally quick reflexes that allowed him to defeat much larger and stronger opponents. Woyda studied law at the University of Warsaw and New York University. He served as a judge in Poland and as a sports journalist in Italy (where he also coached the national fencing team) before settling in the U.S. in the late 1970s.